The Dark Side
by AnnieInWonderland07
Summary: The Winter War ended up with no victorious side. Ten years after her capture, Orihime finally swore allegiance to Aizen. With a frozen heart that changed Orihime, what will happen then? IchiHime. Rated M for gory scenes and lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my other IchiHime fic. Starting a new one…**

**Warning: This story is not something romantics would like. I made this story totally different from the mushy things you read about IchiHime. I'm going 'in depth' with this one. Settings and characterizations would be cold, gloomy and unforgiving. And I made a DRASTIC change in character. If you are discouraged by this warning, then do not proceed. If you are brave enough to face new horizons, then proceed.**

**Another IchiHime fic by directX07, otherwise known as sekra07 (by her creations and cronies)…**

**THE DARK SIDE**

Chapter 1

'Coronation'

**(A/N: The title of this chapter is set in a **_**sarcastic **_**tone, okay? But not really.)**

"Are you ready, Inoue Orihime?" Ulquiorra Schiffer asked in his usual monotonic voice.

"Hai," Orihime answered – quietly but with determination.

"Then follow me."

_This is it. I'm finally making the most drastic decision in my life. What's in it for me? Peace… and finally, a rest from all those years of pain and false hopes._

_Ten years have passed and I'm still here. The lights go out, another soul burned – once I went here, I knew I can't return. But I still have that nagging thought inside of me that someone would come to save me someday. Day after day, I had that sinking sensation of hope and bravery. I do things on auto-pilot – I eat, I dress, I behave. I do everything for Aizen Sousuke. I thought that God gives rewards to those who are patient._

_I guess life is never really that way._

_What hurt me the most? They deemed me as the traitor. Judged by the very friends who told me they would protect me. I still prayed. I counted every day that that unforgiving moon shined upon my face, mocking me with its sadness and melancholy exterior. My entire future was a mystery and my present life was being drained from me._

_Ten years have been enough for me to slap me into the reality that they would never come. That they had forgotten their comrade. That the man whom she loved would never come and rescue her like what he did to Kuchiki Rukia._

_She was happy that the winter war ended in an even match, so that she would live another day to set things right for her. For her to get revenge – digging a grave for another and for herself._

_Damn them all._

"I have arrived," Orihime stated.

Ten years of living in Las Noches has drained the vibrant color from her face. Her skin paled so much that it was close as Ulquiorra's skin tone. Her gray eyes, once unique because of the warmth it exuded even with such a cold color, finally caught up with its original reputation and looked as cool as ice and the nights of Las Noches. Her lips were still luscious, but they didn't dare lift. They were pulled down by gravity. Working against her…

Her hair, once always flowing freely, was now held up in a high ponytail. Inoue Orihime indeed changed. Now, she wanted to change completely.

"Enter," a cool, masculine voice said.

Orihime entered, only to be welcomed by 13 pairs of inquisitive eyes. Las Noches had grown to be her family. At first, they were all so cold and harsh towards her, but she eventually earned their trust and became friends with most of them, except Barragan who seemed so detached always.

"I'm ready, Aizen-sama," Orihime said, bowing deeply.

Aizen Sousuke went down from his 'throne' and stood in front of Orihime. He smiled down at her. He had always wished she would come to her senses and serve him. She would become his precious daughter and he would care for her, make her the flower of Hueco Mundo – someone alive amongst the dead.

"Then, we shall do it," he said.

He pressed his finger at the middle of Orihime's chest. She inhaled sharply and bit back a pained yell as Aizen's finger pierced through her skin, closing in on her heart.

He was muttering inaudible words as Orihime felt all the warmth inside of her leave. The process was tormenting and the sides of her clothes were torn by how she gripped them to avoid shouting her lungs out. It was difficult to breathe. It was as if ice was covering her heart and veins.

"Endure it, Orihime-sama," Aaroniero encouraged.

"You can do it," Halibel said, nodding at Orihime.

"Che," Grimmjow said.

Orihime smiled at this and bore the pain. She saw Ichimaru Gin go to her side and support her. The fox-faced ex-captain was right in doing so. She was about to collapse in the excruciating pain she felt.

Then, she felt all emotions leave her, all her insanity draining, all her false hopes shattering. It was replaced by something more powerful than what she had ever felt – will and ruthlessness.

"What did you do?" Tousen asked.

"I froze her heart," Aizen replied.

"Froze her heart? What effect does it have?"

"It will make her a part of our family now," the 'king' said. Aizen sat down on his throne and scanned Orihime's expressionless face. "I made her something close to being a hollow. A heartless human. And she will be our princess."

"Princess?" Grimmjow asked, bemused.

"Every king needs an heir, every man wants a child," Aizen said. "And I changed her for the better. She's one of us now. She has accepted her fate."

"Hai, Aizen-sama," Orihime said, walking up to her 'father' and bowing.

"Do not worry, my child," Aizen said, smiling at her 'daughter.' "You will be cared for and trained every day until you become what I want you to be. When you prove yourself worthy I will give you a mission. When the time is right, you will lead your people to success over those who abandoned you a decade ago."

Orihime's expression hardened. "Hai, Aizen-sama."

"Now go, all of you."

* * *

**Okay, my first chapter is short. It's just an overview. See? It's dark and gothic. And totally different, I tell you.**

**Like it? Hate it? Tell me. I'll continue anyway.**

**Peace out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I had to update soon after seeing those reviews. It encouraged me. I was a bit unsure at first whether I should go on with this 'dark and bad' fic, so I challenged myself to post one chapter to check it out. Hey, I got 4 reviews and the Sweety 8587 liked it Dark, so I'm doing this for her. (laughs). But I'm also doing this for all those who reviewed.**

**Thanks JiraJeffyrra for reading my work again and appreciating it. Thanks, thanks…**

**And to I-love-shiro-chan, I love Toushirou too. Hehe.**

**And to Jaredhimself31. Thanks.**

**Here it is, the second chap of 'The Dark Side'…**

Chapter 2

Unbecoming

Inoue Orihime, the new 'princess' of Hueco Mundo sat in her quarters silently. Actually, it was a brand new room – larger and more elegant. Perhaps it was what people would call as a 'suite.'

She looked at the familiar view of the moon. Her window was more spacious now. She could now get additional pieces of the scenery. She could now see the white sand and the lifeless plants made from crystal. Black and white.

_Black and white. A beautiful color, _she thought.

She never appreciated those colors before. She was all bright and cheery, like her naïve self.

"Inoue Orihime-sama," Ulquiorra said from the doorway.

Orihime turned, cold gray eyes clashing with expressionless green ones. Ulquiorra was accompanied by Aaroniero (in his Shiba Kaien form) and Zommari.

"What is it, Ulquiorra?" she said, in a strangely demanding voice.

_She's truly become one of us, _Aaroniero thought, smiling at this. _What exactly did Aizen-sama do to turn this human into something near a hollow's thinking?_

_Wonderful, _Zommari mused. _The fruits of Aizen-sama's love._

"Aizen-sama wants to see you," Ulquiorra said.

"Why did he send three people to fetch me?" Orihime asked again, voice harder than before.

_She's like ice-cold fire now, _Aaroniero thought. _Damn witty._

"He wanted you to be guarded everywhere you go, every hour of everyday."

Orihime frowned. "I would never do anything to betray Aizen-sama."

"It's not that, Orihime-sama. Loyalty is something you have proven for the ten years you were here," Ulquiorra assured her. "He wants you to be protected until you reach the full potential of your power."

"Full potential of my power?" Orihime asked again, sarcastic. "Shun Shun Rikka? The weak defense system I had?"

"That and something else," Aaroniero said.

"What is it?"

"Aizen-sama asks you to go to his chambers so that he could discuss those things with you," Zommari added.

Orihime nodded and went out of her room. _No use asking. Aizen-sama answers everything._

Ulquiorra, Aaroniero and Zommari quickly followed.

White walls, white hallways… bright but gloomy. Echoing footsteps of the espada walking within Las Noches' perpetual chambers.

She swore it was the only thing embedded in her mind and eyes right then. Something in the spell her 'father' pierced through her heart.

Yes. It was drilled in her mind for the past few days that Aizen Sousuke was to be her father. She just wondered, why her?

Piercing shouts came out from a room a couple of paces away from hers. It was Loly's.

Orihime's stagnant gaze flicked to the entrance and caught a glimpse of Loly being whipped by Barragan.

_The old geezer must have been sent to punish the bitchy arrancar._

"Why is she being punished?" Orihime asked, stopping in front of Loly's room and observing torrents of blood and flesh flowing from every fresh wound. The female arrancar seemed to notice her arrival and flashed Orihime a weak look, with those once-defiant eyes pleading and half-closed.

"She caused a fight and nearly killed Cirucci," Barragan answered, throwing another attack.

Loly screamed.

Orihime didn't know why, but she didn't flinch at the gory sight before her. It was like the stench of dirt and blood were a commonplace to her senses. She looked at Loly with disregard, something that the female arrancar was shocked in, remembering the time when she and Menoly nearly killed Lady Orihime and yet, the human healed them back.

She was filled with warmth and compassion back then. But not now…

"I am sorry that I have interrupted your work," Orihime said, turning her back to Loly and moving towards her three escorts, who stopped to wait for her. "Continue."

Orihime walked away as the shouts of 'Orihime-sama!' continued. She was deaf to those pleadings. Who knew how much she screamed for help back then, knowing no one would ever come?

She reached Aizen's chamber and the doors opened.

"My dear, welcome," Aizen said. "Ulquiorra, you may go out now. I need time alone with Orihime-chan."

"Hai, Aizen-sama," the three answered.

When the three espada left, Orihime proceeded closer to the base of the staircase connecting Aizen's abode to the lower ground.

_Aizen-sama is like a god._

Aizen regarded her with those unsettling eyes. Those were the eyes that always left Orihime bothered and afraid. But not now. Inoue Orihime was the new lady of this realm. Ten years of living in a secluded world of murderous soul-eaters taught her to fend for herself, shutting down all of her emotions. She had to endure the forbidding sights around her.

Aizen Sousuke's eyes? They were just the same as the rest of those things around her for a decade. His eyes were actually a welcoming sight now.

Her mind was unlocked to the truth by the very captors assigned to lock her whole being in.

"Ulquiorra said you wanted to see me?" Orihime asked.

"I shall give you your power," Aizen said, coming down the stairs, approaching her.

"What power, Aizen-sama?" she added, staring him in the eye.

"You can call me father now," he said eerily. "That was my purpose for making you officially one of us. I need someone to train – someone I can completely trust."

"Why me? I was once –" she said, pausing a moment, "- one of them."

"That's exactly it," Aizen countered. "It's because you are the only one aside from Tousen and Gin who have other intentions in joining me."

"Aren't intentions the reasons for one's suspicions?" she asked.

Aizen smiled at this. "You truly are amazing. After a few days, you sound and think just like me."

Orihime felt pride in this statement coming from a man like Aizen-sama. "What do my intentions have that sets me apart?"

"The arrancars aim for greater power, Tousen wants peace, Gin wants savagery, but you? My child, you have something much more," Aizen said, touching her face with his cold fingers.

"What is it?"

Aizen moved closer to her, until his mouth was only inches away from her right ear. "The intention to get revenge."

Orihime stiffened at this one. It was true. Her intentions were purely vengeful.

"I know, above all of their intentions, yours is the strongest and the most _useful_," he said, moving away and taking something from a box near the Hougyoku. "I know you want to prove yourself. They deserted you and we saved you from loneliness. You deserve revenge; I can feel your desire seeping through your soul right now."

"So, I'm asking you now to sit on my throne," he added.

Orihime could only stare and obey.

Aizen followed her as she sat down, his eyes never leaving her face.

Not that he would find any signs of treachery. Orihime's eyes were blank and unreadable.

"I'm giving you the power of the dark fire," he whispered.

He touched a gem made of pure black and pressed it against Orihime's forehead.

She hissed in pain. It was scorching hot.

"Hold it," Aizen said. "Don't worry my daughter. It will only take five minutes and you'll gain extraordinary power."

Orihime held the gem. Suddenly, the whole throne burst into black and blue flames, engulfing her body.

Aizen moved away as he smiled. Orihime's yells, pants, screams and groans filled the whole chamber for five minutes.

_Hot… painful… five minutes? Can I hold on that long? I can't…_

_NO! I must do this for Aizen-sama… and for my revenge._

After five minutes that seemed like an eternity, she emerged from the ashes, her clothes burned and a black flame scar grazing her left forearm.

Orihime – eyes filled with bloodlust, anger and malice. Beautiful face still the same, but murder and evil coming through.

_Look what pain and madness did to her, _Aizen thought. _But I will heal her._

"Now, you truly become my daughter," Aizen said.

* * *

**Ugh. That was shocking of me. Like it? Love it? Hate it? Tell me…**

**That was so not Orihime. Well, that's the point of my whole story, a whole change in setting and CHARACTERIZATION. (laughs) bye...**


	3. Chapter 3

This is it… My third chapter

**This is it… My third chapter.**

**Thanks to all those who read and reviewed my story. You all inspire me and make my day.**

**The inspiration to Orihime's power is the kyuubi from Naruto and Princess Azula and Prince Zuko of Avatar, the Last Airbender. Orihime's 'sensations' to her power are similar to Rurouni Kenshin's villain, Shishio Makoto. If you're familiar with these characters, and the art of "Firebending," I got the techniques mentioned here from these things.**

Chapter 3

Bottled Power

The scene slowly unfurled beneath her cold gaze. Aizen-sama commanded Sayelaporro and Halibel to train her. It seemed that the scientist-espada discovered the artifact of the dark flames and used Orihime as the test subject. Now that their princess possessed the power, all they had to do was bring it out.

The training grounds were in the lowest regions of Las Noches. Here, there is no place for light and its fingertips. It is where every being in Hueco Mundo knows that light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error. It is these mingled opposites which people their nonexistent lives, which make it pungent, intoxicating. They only exist in terms of this conflict, in the zone where black and white clash.

Inoue Orihime knows that now for truly, it is in darkness that one finds the light, so when they are in their sorrows, then this 'light' is nearest of all to them. The bloodiest and most secluded chamber of Las Noches was where all arrancar were created. It is where freedom was given to those hidden behind the mask for all eternity. Hollows were doomed to their greedy and sorrow-wallowing existence, until supposedly, a shinigami slays and 'saves' them.

She realized that every hollow had their salvation when her father came to Hueco Mundo. There, he gave them a purpose. There, they gave them power. And to her, as well as the man who reawakened her naïve soul, power is life.

Nothing is alive without power. Power over a man's subsistence is power over his will. Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac – the seat of ultimate supremacy. Never, in a hundred years, did Orihime imagine she would ever understand that. But now, she did.

There was an odd heat that scorched within her veins. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. She had never felt more _alive. _It was like a monster was hiding within her, desiring to be unleashed.

She stood proudly in the middle of the dark, spacious hall. There was no light, for her mentors said she would not need it. She had no objections. She felt at home in these surroundings.

"This is to hone my sense of hearing," Orihime said.

"Correct," Sayelaporro said from somewhere to her left. "You need to identify where your enemies are even without the slightest shred of light. And to know where they are even if you do not sense their reiatsu."

"When do I comprehend the abilities of my power?"

"Not yet. Not after you do something."

"Like this?" Orihime said, producing blue flames in her right hand and black ones in the other. The burnt mark on her left forearm seemed to glow, reflecting the hungry look on her face.

She seemed so… malevolent.

"I guess that will do," Halibel said with a smile.

"The Dark Flames is the powerful black dragon I caught here in Hueco Mundo," Sayelaporro said. "I found it amongst the Gillian – a dragon with a hollow's mask, pure black, with the hottest blue flames. I thought of its powers intriguing, and so I captured it, and sealed it in the artifact Aizen-sama pressed on you."

"Evidently, the master already tested it on himself, but he quickly got rid of the power," Halibel said. "He said it was too _intoxicating _and that he wanted to save it for someone else. And apparently, he was referring to you."

"This power is so unstable that the slightest slip-up in your control would absolutely result in terror," Sayelaporro explained. "The monster will take over your body and your entire being would cease to exist."

"Then why did Aizen-sama give it to me?" Orihime asked, not really bothered by the consequences given by acquiring the power.

"Because you have Shun Shun Rikka," Halibel said.

"Shun Shun Rikka will repel the power from eating up every core of your being. You still must keep your original power alive to save you from total monstrosity," she continued.

"The fairies won't really leave me, would they?" Orihime said spitefully. "They seemed too eager to put me back to the way I was before. That horrible, _wretched _state."

Sayelaporro cleared his throat. "The power gives you the ability to generate flames from your body, specifically your hands and feet. The martial arts and form that will be used to summon this techniques perfectly is the Northern Xiaolin style."

"Xiaolin?" Orihime asked in suppressed shock. "Isn't that a human martial arts style?"

"In fact, yes. In China. I was once a Xiaolin warrior myself," Halibel said. "That is why Aizen-sama instructed me to train you."

"What about Sayelaporro?"

"I'm here to oversee the training, Orihime-sama," the scientist said. "Just in case you misused the power and let it take over yourself during the training. The power is so unstable that we couldn't afford to risk it."

"And if it does take over me?" Orihime asked.

"Then we would eliminate you immediately, as Aizen-sama told us," Halibel said.

Orihime knew this was coming. Aizen Sousuke was a ruthless man who would confront the slightest troubles and crushing it before it grew too big. He made the mistake once – with Kurosaki Ichigo. He wouldn't make it again. But Orihime was grateful to that man, and eliminating her upon the slightest show of weakness was alright. She wanted greater power, and this was the only way. Weakness and failure were not parts of the options. Perfection is the epitome of her salvation. She wouldn't let the dragon consume her. She wanted to gain Aizen-sama's trust and her revenge. Her own welfare was only a secondary concern right now.

"You won't need to eliminate me," she said in a vindictive tone. "First, you need to teach me before you decide if I'm worth eliminating."

Halibel laughed. "Very well then, we shall start," she said.

"I think I need to see the forms first," Orihime said, pointing her finger in a part of the room. It was where the supposed 'fireplace' was. A bursting blue flame went out of her fingertip and lit up the room. She briefly winced. She didn't wish to do that, but she needed to. She needed to see the demonstration.

Halibel nodded and did a series of powerful punches and kicks. Orihime followed perfectly.

"The idea is you generate flames to your extremities using kicks and punches," Sayelaporro explained. "Try."

Orihime punched and willed the flames to go out. It did come and it burned across the room.

"Excellent," Halibel said. "Almost perfect, but still an unstable form."

"Almost isn't good enough," Orihime said.

They went through the whole day training. Orihime mastered the forms quickly, learning how to control the fire on her own.

_Amazing, absolutely amazing, _a menacing voice said deep within her.

She knew it was the Dark Flame talking to her.

_Let me have your body and we can do incredible things. We would be unstoppable._

She ignored.

_With you as the mistress, nothing can over hold us in one place. We would rule the world. You can even get rid of Aizen Sousuke. Just set me free and use your body._

She just ignored.

_Come on. You have no choice. The power exists! And you have the potentials to wield me without restraint. They could never eliminate you if you do slip-up, I'll devour them all for you._

'I will never let a lowly creature such as you take over my body,' she thought. 'I have big plans and your part is to help me destroy my enemies and prove myself worthy.'

_Insolent woman! You would never make it!_

'You are the one with no choices. You follow, or we _both _die. I'm not afraid to die. Are you?'

The dragon ceased talking.

"Your wound is glowing. He's talking to you, isn't he?" Sayelaporro said.

"Do not worry. I have perfect control over him," Orihime said confidently.

_This confidence and attitude is unusual for this kid, _Halibel thought. _But it's perfect._

Power has engulfed Inoue Orihime completely.


End file.
